A war of words erupted between Westminster and Holyrood this week with the battle lines being drawn over a referendum on Scottish independence. Having already agreed on the principle of holding a vote, the debate was focused on many of the key details and terms behind it.

Timing has emerged as a major sticking point with the coalition government looking for a decision to be reached within 18 months. This contrasts the SNP who are focused on an Autumn 2014 vote, a date that happens to coincide with the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn – a historic Scottish victory.

Mitt Romney took another step forward in securing the Republican Party’s nomination after winning the New Hampshire primary by a comfortable margin and joining an elite group of candidates to win their first two contests not as an incumbent. His victory speech took the tone of a man challenging the White House rather than his own party rivals, indicative of his commanding position in the contest.

Convictions, concern and controversy lead the way this week with much of the press’ focus on Gary Dobson and David Norris being found guilty of the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993.

Internationally, concern continued to grow about the safety of medical implants made by the French firm Poly Implant Prothèse. The issue was lead in the UK with a debate over who would be responsible for the removal silicone implants. Many representatives from the private sector, responsible for 95 per cent of the affected procedures, asserted that the responsibility for resolving any subsequent medical issues relating to the implants did not lay at their door.

In the US, the race to become the Republican Party’s presidential candidate began in earnest this week with the Iowa caucuses. These concluded with the former governor for Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, emerging victorious by a margin of only eight votes. Despite this narrow result Romney is widely expected to win the overall nomination to face the incumbent, Barack Obama, on November 6th. Read more …

This week saw the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre with most nationals running daily stories in the lead up to 11 September. It may have seemed like saturated coverage, yet the ongoing fallout in Libya was still reported on more heavily over the week.